CATCHIN' ANYTHING?: Stripers, bass still out there

MARC FOLCO

Friday

Jun 29, 2007 at 12:30 AM

The Islands have been good for stripers this week, with Quicks's Hole and Devil's Bridge off Gay Head two of the best bets. Trolling Gibbs' deep-diving Danny plugs at night on wire line is still producing some big fish, as evidenced by Peter Thornton of Dartmouth's 45-pound, 7-ounce bass, caught on a Danny plug off Gay Head aboard the charter boat MacAtac, with Captain Todd MacGregor. The fish was weighed-in Thursday morning at Dockside Bait and Tackle.

The Islands have been good for stripers this week, with Quicks's Hole and Devil's Bridge off Gay Head two of the best bets. Trolling Gibbs' deep-diving Danny plugs at night on wire line is still producing some big fish, as evidenced by Peter Thornton of Dartmouth's 45-pound, 7-ounce bass, caught on a Danny plug off Gay Head aboard the charter boat MacAtac, with Captain Todd MacGregor. The fish was weighed-in Thursday morning at Dockside Bait and Tackle.

Trolling chandelier rigs on wire is also hooking fish, but the rig must be deep enough, close to the bottom. The rocky shoreline along the backsides of the Islands have been producing fish on live eels cast into the rocks. Chunk bait and pogies are catching fish if you want to anchor up, toss the bait close to shore and wait.

Some of the harbors, like Padanaram, Mattapoisett and Marion Harbors, still have pods of pogies with bass under them. Live-lining pogies snagged from a school will catch fish. Dead or chunk pogies also will work, if you can get them down past the bluefish into the bass below. Bigger bass don't like to expend a lot of energy chasing food, and find dead or chunk bait an easy meal. The Canal is starting to pick up, as anglers have been able to hunt and peck at a few fish in the 25-pound class.

Bluefish are still scattered throughout the Bay, with schools of them tearing into baitfish close to Bird Island off Marion right into Onset. Most are six pounds or less, with some bigger ones around The Islands and in the holes.

Fluke fishing is picking up, with most of the action still in the deeper water around Lucas Shoals. Dockside reported Eddie Taber of Mattapoisett weighed-in a 13½-pound doormat caught off Lucas's on squid.

Scup fishing is still OK toward Marion and Mattapoisett, with lots of fish now scattered throughout the bay. Shore fishing spots, like Fort Rodman, Fort Phoenix and the Padanaram Bridge have fish, but figure one keeper for every half dozen shorts. Scup now are at the causeway at Gooseberry, along with some tautog.

Good tides are coming up this weekend along with a full moon, which should cause the fishing to pick up. From shore, high tide at sunset is a peak period to fish, especially with a southwest wind forecast for Saturday, which blows seaweed and baitfish (with bigger game fish following) within reach of surfcasters. Wind should switch to northwest on Sunday, which is better than northeast.

When the wind blows west, the fish bite the best. When the wind blows east, the fish bite the least.

Saskatchewan's status as a premier North American destination for freshwater fishing was reaffirmed by a world-record rainbow trout caught this month, according to the Saskatchewan Dept. of Tourism, in Lake Diefenbaker, located in the province's southwest.

Caught by Adam Konrad of Saskatoon, the new record breaker weighed in at 43.6 pounds, with a length of 38.75 inches and a 34-inch girth. The previous world record holder, weighing 42.2 ounces, was caught in Alaska in 1970.

Konrad and his twin brother Sean broke the provincial rainbow trout record three times last July, with 28.39-pound, 30-pound and 33.3-pound catches, then smashed their own record with a 34.5-pound catch by fall. In the past two fishing seasons, the Konrads have reportedly caught and released back into Lake Diefenbaker more than 200 rainbow trout exceeding 20 pounds and at least a dozen more over 30 pounds.

The new record fish was caught on a Mepps Syclops spoon and six-pound test line.